Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 113.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,682 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,708 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,247,208,000 after acquiring an additional 259,213 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock traded up $3.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $197.55. 21,974,853 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,381,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $202.88. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $185.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.85. The company has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.